Power machine ships giant units to two Far East hydro projects

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia 9/20/11 (PennWell) -- Giant hydroelectric generating units built by Russian equipment manufacturer Power Machines are on their way to the Russian Far East for installation at the 6,400-MW Sayano-Shushenskaya and 3,000-MW Boguchanskaya hydroelectric projects.

Power Machines said it shipped the second consignment of equipment for rehabilitation of the Sayano-Shushenskaya project. A 2009 accident at the plant, on the Yenisei River in the remote region of Khakassia, flooded the powerhouse, damaging equipment and killing 75 people.

The giant units were loaded at St. Petersburg onto a river-ocean class vessel, the only means of transporting the three sets of generating equipment, including 145-ton turbine runners, generator bearing oil baths, and a 13-ton rotor frame. The 5,900-kilometer trip began by crossing Lake Ladoga and Lake Onega, from which the ship crosses the White Sea-Baltic Sea Canal to the White Sea, follows the Northern Sea Route to the Yenisei River, then travels upriver to the 6,000-MW Krasnoyarsk project. At that point, the equipment is transferred to river barge for towing to the 321-MW Mainskaya project. At that point, the equipment is delivered by special truck to Sayano-Shushenskaya.

Power Machines signed an 11.7 billion ruble (US$371.4 million) contract with project owner RusHydro in November 2009. The company is to build 10 hydropower turbines and nine generators with a capacity of 640 MW each as well as six excitation systems. The first shipment to Sayano-Shushenskaya arrived in August.

Power Machines also is providing installation, supervision services, and commissioning of the equipment. The first new unit is to begin operation in December. All work is to be completed by 2014.

Final giant turbine shipment sails to 3,000-MW Boguchanskaya

Power Machines also shipped off by the same route the final consignment of giant hydropower turbines for the 3,000-MW Boguchanskaya hydroelectric project being built on the Angara River in Russia's Khakassia region.

The manufacturer said the turbine runners for Boguchanskaya Units 8 and 9 are the largest produced by Russia in more than 10 years, weighing 155.6 tons each.

They are being shipped by the same route as the Sayano-Shushenskaya equipment, except after transfer to barge at Krasnoyarsk, the units are moved to the Boguchanskaya site on the Angara River. Seven units previously were shipped to the Boguchanskaya site from 2008 through 2010.

Power Machines is to deliver and install nine units at the plant through 2013. Separate turbine and generator contracts are valued at 3 billion rubles (US$117.3 million) each.

RusHydro is developing Boguchanskaya as part of a joint venture with Russian metals producer United Company RUSAL that includes construction of the Boguchany Energy and Metals Complex, a 600,000-ton-per-year smelter, and a 732,000-ton-per-year timber processing complex.